2013 could see record number of U.S. law firm mergers

According to the consulting firm Altman Weil, there have been 39 mergers so far this year, with 18 announced in the second quarter of 2013.

“The largest annual total for U.S. law firm mergers was 70 in 2008,” Altman Weil Principal Ward Bower said in a press release. “If the current pace continues, it looks like 2013 will surpass that record.”

The largest of the 18 deals announced in Q2 was between St. Louis firm Husch Blackwell (543 lawyers) and Texas firm Brown McCarroll (65 lawyers). Baker & McKenzie claimed the only cross-border deal in Q2 when it merged with 45-lawyer Dubai-based Habib Al Mulla.